Vehicle bicycle racks, consisting in a structure which is mounted on an automobile vehicle for carrying one or more bicycles, are widely used to facilitate the transportation of bicycles and similar apparatus. Typically, vehicle bicycle racks are mounted outside of the vehicle, such as by having the rack couple to a trailer hitch receiver installed on the vehicle. Having the rack disposed outside the vehicle allows rapid and easy access to the rack for loading and unloading a bicycle onto and from the rack. Also, because the racks are mounted outside of the vehicle, the racks allow riders to conveniently transport one or more bicycles over relatively long distances, regardless of the size of the vehicle and without a need to disassemble the bicycle. Bicycle racks thus can allow a rider to use his or her bicycle at locations that otherwise would not be accessible to the rider without undue inconvenience.
While most vehicle bicycle racks facilitate relatively quick and easy mounting and dismounting of the bicycle, installing and removing the rack itself can take considerable time and effort, particularly when the vehicle bicycle rack is of the rigid type, normally made of aluminum or other lightweight metal. Thus, users often leave this type of rack on their vehicle when the rack is not in use. In their mounted position on the vehicle, most, if not all vehicle bicycle racks, however, protrude from the vehicle and thereby increase the overall dimensional footprint of the vehicle. This can result in disadvantages, such as making it difficult or impossible to park the vehicle in a confined area that, were it not for the presence of the rack, would readily accommodate the vehicle.
Also, most vehicle bicycle racks do not allow the height of the bicycle above the ground to be varied so as to maintain a required or otherwise desired clearance between the bicycle and the ground. This can be disadvantageous because bicycles are made in a wide range of sizes. Therefore, a rack sized for a particular type of bicycle may hold other types of bicycles at a height that is too low, resulting in ground-clearance issues; or too high, leading to visibility restrictions through the vehicle's rear window.
Thus, there retrains a need in the art for a vehicle mounting rack which solves at least one of the aforementioned problems.